Ricardo Montalbán

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Ricardo Montalbán(Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino), (born Nov. 25, 1920, Mexico City, Mex.—died Jan. 14, 2009, Los Angeles, Calif.), Mexican actor who possessed a distinctive voice and debonair persona and enjoyed a 60-year career appearing onstage, in films (notably as the villainous Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan [1982]), and on television, where he starred as the suave Mr. Rourke in the hit TV series Fantasy Island (1978–84) and earned an Emmy Award for his performance as Indian chief Satangkai in the miniseries How the West Was Won (1978). Montalbán made his stage debut in the New York production Her Cardboard Lover (1941) but rose to stardom in Mexico. His singing and dancing talents were discovered by MGM studios, which cast him in Fiesta (1947), On an Island with You (1948), The Kissing Bandit (1948), and Neptune’s Daughter (1949). He appeared as a Native American in Across the Wide Missouri (1951), but he was more often typecast as the stereotypical Latin lover, most notably in the 1953 films Sombrero and Latin Lovers. After his MGM contract expired (1953), Montalbán was cast in meatier film roles, notably in Cheyenne Autumn (1964) and The Singing Nun (1966). He also had prominent roles in the films Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971) and Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972) and appeared (1985–87) in the TV dramaThe Colbys. Montalbán continued to work well into his 80s, appearing in the films Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams (2002) and Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over (2003). In 1970 he established the nonprofit organization Nosotros to help aspiring Hispanic actors.